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THE BLACK TERN. 
Sterna nigra, Linn . 
PLATE CCCCXXXYin. — Adult Male and Young. 
The Black Tern begins to arrive from the Mexican territories over the 
waters of the Western Country about the middle of April, and continues 
to pass for about a month. At that season I have observed it ascending the 
Mississippi from New Orleans to the head waters of the Ohio, then cutting 
over the land, and arriving at the Great Lakes, beyond which many proceed 
still farther northward. But I have rarely met with them along our Atlantic 
shores until autumn, when the young, which, like those of all other Terns 
with which I am acquainted, mostly keep by themselves until spring, make 
their appearance there. Nor did I see a single individual when on my way 
to Labrador, or during my visit to that country. They re-appear in the 
Western Country, in the course of their southern migration, in the months 
of September and October ; but many pairs breed in the intermediate range. 
When residing at Louisville in Kentucky, I found the Black Tern abun- 
dant in the neighbourhood, breeding on the margins of ponds at a short dis- 
tance from the Ohio. I also found them with nests and eggs on a pond near 
Yincennes, in the State of Indiana. Now, however, they have abandoned 
those places, and merely pass over the country on their way to and from the 
northern regions. 
Often have I watched their graceful, light and rapid flight, as they advanced 
and passed over in groups of twenty, thirty or more, from the delightful 
residence of my worthy friend and kind relative Nicholas Berthoud, Esq. 
of Shippingport, during the month of May, when Nature, opening her 
stores anew, benignly smiled upon the favoured land of Kentucky, The 
gay birds were seen ranging from the basin at the foot of the rapids to the 
lower part of the narrow channel which separates Sandy Island from the 
shore, up the clear stream and down again, plunging at short intervals into 
the water to seize their prey, and continuing their pleasing occupations 
through the whole day. When the period of reproduction arrived, they 
would all betake' themselves to the ponds, and search along their moist 
shores for tufts of rank grass such a,s might form suitable places for their 
nests. One of their favourite ponds still remains in part, although a great 
